Amen and Amen.
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Worthy is the LAMB+... worthy is the LAMB+... worthy is the LAMB+ that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing! Blessing and honor and glory and power be unto HIM that sitteth on the throne and unto The LAMB+ for ever and ever. Amen.
Amen and Amen.
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However, there are other ways we can grieve HIM+ and His+ HOLY SPIRIT. Do we lag behind when HE+ shows us what to do? Do we put off dealing with certain habits which are not necessarily sinful... yet those habits still are not really sowing to the Holy Spirit? Do we turn a deaf ear when HE+ gently calls us to prayer, to slow down, to get still before HIM+ ?
Do we who-ought-to-know-Our-LORD-better ignore His+ calling to do certain things, hoarding our time, our energy, and our effort for more temporal duties? Don't we know yet that HE+ will provide our every need for time... for energy... and for strength for whatsoever HE+ calls us to do?
What are we hoarding our time from... Is it a daily quiet time? Is it a hidden time of intercessory prayer for people who do not know us and wouldn't care for us if they did? Is it a preferance to be active, to produce something visible, that makes us expend our energies in those arenas, instead of sitting still before The LORD for a time?
Do we hoard our time and limited energy to spend it on socializing ... instead of meditation time on and with The LORD? Do we hoard our time and energy, keeping it away from the LORD, so we can get our housework done... our children fed.... our public jobs taken care of ? Yes, all these things are GOOD DUTIES to perform, but are they ever too much with us?
David Bercot, of Scroll Publishing and the Society of the GOOD SHEPHERD, once printed a story about a poor family who had a pig, a sow. During prayer, the man of the home promised The LORD to give HIM+ one of the litter of piglets, should the sow produce a litter. In due season, the sow produced a fine litter of piglets, 7 in all. But soon afterwards, one of the little piglets died. The man became distraught. His wife asked him what was wrong. He said, " A terrible thing has happened. The LORD'S pig died!"
Yes, when we must cut out something, or cut back somewhere, we will likely cut out time, money, effort , or energy from The LORD'S program or kingdom. We will get our sleep. We will get our food and gasoline. We will be certain to get to our job on time... but we seldom serve The LORD with such rigor.
More's the pity, this condition called being human. Why can't we serve The LORD with as much vigor, as much endurance, as much singleness of eye as we serve our employer? The LORD is certainly more to be trusted... more to be honored... and more worthy of faithfulness.
Yes, let us STOP PUTTING EVERYTHING ELSE BEFORE The LORD. Our jobs will get done, our houses cleaned, our children fed if we make the sacrifice to put HIM+ before all these necessary responsibilities.
If we so will to do this, HE+ will provide the time, energy, effort and money... and then, ---bless His+ dear, dear heart--- HE+ will credit it to our account!
Gracious Heavenly FATHER,
I come to THEE saddened by all the times I have grieved Thy Spirit. I am sorry for causing THEE sorrow. I am sorry for the times I have disappointed THEE and that THOU hast been made to labor with my stubbornness.
I do love THE, O LORD. Help me to point my face toward THEE and move into Thy will, knowing THOU wilt provide the wherewithal needed to accomplish it. I’m sorry for the times I have hidden myself from THEE and wouldn’t make the effort to do what I knew was Thy will… in prayer, in intercession, in quietude. I pray these things in the name of Thy Beloved SON JESUS CHRIST, Who+ delighted to do Thy will, O FATHER.
In the name of The FATHER, The SON, and the Blessed HOLY SPIRIT of GOD.
Amen
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Sooner or later, we all have ENORMOUS hurts or difficulties. They come to Christian and non-Christian, alike. Deaths, bodily sickness or injury, divorce, loneliness --- deep, gut-wrenching loneliness--- every human soul knows these heart-aches in one way or another. And then, when joy is finally gone, comes the worst: what is life all about, anyways? And for some, is it worth the struggle?
Our LORD JESUS tells us to walk with HIM+. HE+ does NOT tell us to be joyful. HE+ does tell us to offer up thanksgiving and praise of Who+ HE+ is in the midst of these griefs. Like Job, we recognize His+ Sovereignty at all times and in all circumstances. And then, we are required to walk with HIM+… in as much obedience as if the hurt had not happened.
As we walk with The LORD JESUS through these gut-wrenching sorrows, HE+ comforts us. HE+ also corrects our vision. HE+ corrects where --- or in whom--- we have put our trust. The Psalmist correctly states:
So now, how do we WHO ARE ALREADY IN THE COVENANT become acceptable to The LORD? Scriptures in several places, including the Psalms, and the Apostles writings, exhorts us to do those things which will make us acceptable unto HIM+.
[An aside: Originally, the Psalms were written by, to, and for the people of GOD who were under the Old Testament or Old Covenant. [Testament means covenant.] These saints were kept safe under the Mosaic Law, the Old Covenant, until the time of the Messiah. The LORD JESUS CHRIST, the Messiah, established the New and Better Covenant… the covenant made through His+ Blood.
We who are not born Jewish have become grafted into the Israel of GOD through The LORD JESUS CHRIST. Indeed, the Jews themselves now must enter into His+ new covenant established by the Messiah. The Old Covenant no longer exists.
The Psalms therefore, including both the promises and the words of exhortation, may be appropriated by all who are in the New Covenant through the LORD JESUS CHRIST. ]
So now, how do we WHO ARE ALREADY IN THE COVENANT
become acceptable to The LORD?
Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults.
Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me:
then shall I be upright,
and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
Psalm 19:12,13
Becoming acceptable unto The LORD involves good grooming of our soul and spirit. We continuously comb out the tangles. We get out the snags. The twisted nests of knots, hidden underneath, must be brought to the surface and be unsnarled, combed straight, and set free. The comb we use has sharp teeth… it is the standard of Scripture, the very words of The LORD CHRIST.
Thus, we monitor our motives, the thoughts of our hearts, in the light of His+ Word. What agrees with Scriptures, WITH CHRIST’S WORDS, we keep. What disagrees with HIS+WORD, we comb out and untangle. Even if we must use the scissors, we rid ourselves of the hidden twisted nests of knots, in the light of GOD’S word and by the power of the HOLY SPIRIT. The Apostle Paul is a good example of this. He urged the Christians to be imitators of him in this respect, to follow his ways of following CHRIST.
Let us not be content to allow ourselves tangles and twisted knots. We think they cannot be seen by others. But, there is ONE+ Who+ sees all.
Dear Heavenly FATHER, THOU art Holy. I need that holiness in the inner man. Help me to be pure in thought… pure in word … pure in deed. Help me to see my motives and ungracious spirit when I think things unworthy of my LORD CHRIST. I do not want Him+ to be ashamed of me and to always have to tolerate my slovenly ways. Help me not to excuse myself, but to walk in a way that is well-pleasing unto YOU, through your Well Beloved SON our LORD, in the strength of Your Blessed HOLY SPIRIT.
I praise You for Your continual goodness toward me. I thank You for Your patience with my errors. I thank You for Your holiness now and Your holiness when You walked on earth as a man. Help me to become more holy in my innermost being. Help me to follow your example as my LORD+ and MASTER+.
I pray this in the unblemished name of The LORD JESUS CHRIST, Your eternal SON and WORD.
Amen. + + +
And I saw the dead, small an great, stand before GOD:
and the books were opened: and another book was opened,
which is the book of life:
and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books,
according to their works.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it;
and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them;
and they were judged every man according to their works.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death. Rev. 20: 12,14
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the SPIRIT saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. Rev. 2:11
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone;
which is the second death. Rev. 21:8The second death brings to us the true, horrible, and frightening aspect of spending eternity in the Lake of Fire where the adversary satan will be placed. This likely will be, at the very least, that one will experience the amount of pain and suffering one has done to others during his life on earth... but possibly more, since The LORD takes those offenses as done unto HIMSELF.
Then, there is the accountability of who did one serve: The LORD .... satan.... oneself ?
JESUS HIMSELF spoke of this SECOND death in Mark 9: 42-48. Listen to His Words:
And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into Life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell,
into the fire that never shall be quenched:
where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.
And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into Life, than having two feet to be cast into hell,
into the fire that never shall be quenched:
where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.
And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of GOD with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:
where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.
Life, in the above passage, refers to entering into Eternity with JESUS. Our LORD is telling us that rather than sin and miss Eternal Life with HIM+, it would be better for us to sever our needed body part through which sin has come. Why? It is because when we get to Heaven, we'll be made whole, once again, plus have eternal life in a NEW KIND of BODY, LIKE HIS+ GLORIOUS RESURRECTED BODY!
In other words, no matter the personal cost,
DON'T MISS ETERNITY WITH JESUS.
The opposite is a nightmare which never, ever ceases.
That second death is where all who are waiting in hell for the final judgment are thrown into the Lake of Burning Fire with hell itself and death ! We see that when the unredeemed die, they go to a place of waiting called hell or hades (Gk) or sheol (Heb). They are in torments there, as JESUS told us in Luke 16.
BUT THAT IS NOT THE SECOND DEATH
....WHICH AWAITS THEM LATER.
That awful, eternal, SECOND DEATH,
where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.
This brings us back to our priorites, Christians...
and our accountability before the great Judgment Seat of CHRIST.
In the light of the SECOND death, how then should we live... before GOD, daily... before our fellow man... in our pursuits of this life... in the priorities of our day?
Are we truly concerned about the peoples and tribes who have never heard about The LORD, that they might be saved from the Lake of Burning Fire, the SECOND death?
Are we truly concerned about our lost neighbors that they might be saved from the SECOND death? Or rather, do we keep things on an easy, comfortable level? Do we even think to pray for them... other than when they get sick? The SECOND death is going to be harder on them than any sickness they have ever seen on this earth... and more long-lasting, too. Do we care enough even to set some regular time aside to pray?
Do we pray for opportunities to share the seriousness of eternal consequences with those who are hostile to us?
Let us pray:
Dear Holy, Heavenly FATHER,
I come to you ashamed of my light-hearted walk before THEE. I have not laid to heart the seriousness of Thy words nor of Thy commission. O LORD JESUS CHRIST, it is my heart's desire that all would know THEE+ ... Thy great love, Thy great cleansing power, and Thy great Life both here and beyond the grave.
Turn me away from self-centeredness, O LORD, and let Thy Anointing rest upon me. Let others sense the seriousness of eternal consequences when they see me or converse with me. And help me, O help me, to dislodge myself from comfort and rise up and do those things which will help to rescue friends and enemies alike from the SECOND death... which was not intended for men but for the fallen angels. I am ashamed of my lack of concern. Where would I be if others had not been concerned about my falling into that very Lake ?
I Thank THEE+, O Holy ONE+, for the salvation THOU+ has given to mankind... for whosoever will come to THEE+ . Help me to rescue the perishing and do my part, to show my love and thankfulness unto THEE+.
IN the name of the FATHER, His+ SON, JESUS CHRIST our LORD, and the HOLY SPIRIT. Amen.
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